1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of antenna mounts and more particularly to the field of satellite dish antenna mounts primarily for residential use.
2. Discussion of the Background
Residential dish antennas for satellite reception are commonly mounted by one person on a customer's house (e.g., roof or wall). In installing the antenna, the dish is first typically secured to an elevation bracket which in turn is adjustably attached to a mast clamp. Such mast clamps commonly have a C-shape and can be secured about a vertically extending portion of a mast that is fixed to the roof or other part of the house. In doing so, the upper portion of the mast is initially received in the loose clamp. The clamp is then further lowered onto the mast until a pivot bolt of the elevation bracket that extends across the C-shape of the clamp contacts the upper portion of the mast. With the pivot bolt abutting the upper mast portion and the clamp still loose, the installer can then manually rotate the dish and attached elevation bracket and clamp about the vertical axis of the mast to a desired azimuth and tighten the clamp on the mast.
A problem in this basic installation procedure is that the weight of the assemblage of the dish, attached feed horn, elevation bracket, and clamp is virtually all on one side of the axis of the clamp. Consequently, it is extremely difficult for one installer to simultaneously manually support the assemblage, guide its clamp onto the mast, rotate the assemblage about the vertical axis of the mast, and tighten the clamp on the mast. This is particularly difficult if it is windy and/or the antenna is being mounted in tight or awkward quarters. Complicating the matter, the bolt of the elevation bracket abutting the top of the mast also acts as a pivot for the off-center assemblage when the clamp is loose. As a result, the axis of the clamp is tilted and not vertically aligned when the clamp is loose. Tightening the clamp on the mast will then straighten the clamp and its axis. However, in doing so, the elevation of the dish attached to the clamp is also changed as the clamp is tightened to bring its axis into alignment with the vertical axis of the mast.
As a practical matter, the installer must make his best initial estimate of the correct elevation setting and then wait for the completion of the tightening step of the clamp to see if the final position of the clamp and attached dish resulted in the correct elevation. If not, the elevation bracket and attached dish must be re-adjusted on the clamp. To the extent any re-adjustment of the elevation adversely affects the desired azimuth setting, the entire procedure may have to repeated once or even several times. The fundamental problem with such current antenna mounts of this kind is that the tightening step of the clamp to lock in the azimuth is not independent of and in fact affects the elevation alignment of the dish.
With this and other problems in mind, the present invention was developed. In it, the assemblage of the clamp and attached dish, feed horn, and elevation bracket can be placed on the mast in the desired set elevation even with the clamp loose. With the assemblage then at or moved to the desired azimuth on the mast, the clamp can be tightened without changing or otherwise affecting the set elevation.